You Don’t Just Accidentally End Up In The World Series

I think Derek Jeter’s comment is just as applicable this year as any other.

The 2012 World Series will be contested by American League pennant winning Detroit Tigers and their National League counterparts, the San Francisco Giants. The Championship Series was contrasting: the Tigers were dominant and swept the New York Yankees 4-0 whereas the Giants dethroned St Louis after coming back from a 3-1 deficit.

San Francisco will get home advantage in the series courtesy of the National League winning the All Star Game in July. The first 2 games (24th & 25th) will be played at AT&T Park, games 3 to 5 are at Comerica Park (27th to 29th) and games 6 and 7, should they be needed, are back at AT&T Park on 31st October and 1st November.

For me, the World Series hinges on the Tigers’ star players dominating or the Giants depth of squad. Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander will play a huge part in deciding who the winners will be. His All Star Game appearance, ironically up against the Matt Cain of the Giants, was disasterous. This has been the only blip on another fantastic season. The Tigers’ batting power will be led by Miguel Cabrera and ably assisted by the behemoth, Prince Fielder. San Francisco have seen Matt Cain pitch a Perfect Game this season and Buster Posey has once again caught and batted at a high level all season. The Giants hold a huge joker in the pack with the mercurial Tim Lincecum.

Lincecum’s season has been awful. He is a two-time Cy Young winner, a four-time All-Star, a World Series under his belt and he’s been a relief pitcher of late. However, if Lincecum needs any motivation, the threat of being traded looms and the opportunity to shine on the biggest stage must appeal to ‘The Freak’.

Does a 4-0 ALCS win make the Tigers favourite?

Not really as the Tigers haven’t played since last Thursday whereas the Giants have momentum now. Their closeout win against the Cardinals (9-0) was emphatic and will be a huge fillip as they attempt to win their second World Series in three years. It’s not all the Giants to lose as the Tigers will be buoyed by a resounding defeat of the Yankees. Looking at their respective home and away records, the Giants are more effective away from home and had the better overall record in regular season. Comerica Park has been less penetrable than AT&T Park which makes this series so intriguing.

My MLB tipping has been awful this season so I am going to condemn the Giants to defeat by tipping them to victory. My reading is that the Giants will nick a game off the Tigers at Comerica Park and take the series 4-2 back in San Francisco on Halloween. Whatever happens, this series is going to be a good one!